Former president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, addresses supporters of Libre party. Photo: Facebook / Manuel Zelaya.
The former president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, denounced the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Honduras for a new attempt at an electoral coup, by adopting decisions without quorum and in open violation of the constitution, electoral law, and democratic principles.
In a message published on X on Tuesday, December 23, Zelaya highlighted that the CNE intends to approve de facto an administrative report issued by its General Secretariat, with the aim of canceling the special recount of the presidential elections—a move that, according to Zelaya, buries electoral truth and usurps powers that do not belong to administrative bodies.
He emphasized that any resolution adopted without quorum has no legal validity, and stressed that no candidate can be officially declared winner without completing the special recount process, a mechanism designed to guarantee transparency and respect for the people’s will.
In his denunciation, Zelaya argued that this maneuvre seeks to arbitrarily criminalize legitimate challenges filed by mayors and lawmakers, paving the way for a potential illegitimate and fraudulent presidential declaration. In his view, these actions constitute a serious rupture of the constitutional order and democratic principles.
He further warned that the institutional offensive is not limited to the presidential race, but also includes aims to invalidate the victory of local authorities, particularly the mayoralty of the Central District, led by Jorge Aldana, who is being targeted for political dispossession.
In light of this scenario, Zelaya openly called for popular mobilization, urging social and political grassroots organizations to defend the popular will in the streets, including the defense of the Central District mayoralty headed by Jorge Aldana.
Trump’s Interference Invalidates the Presidential Election in Honduras
Alongside Zelaya, Rixi Moncada, presidential candidate of the Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), has been among the most critical voices in the process. From early stages of the vote count, Moncada denounced a scheme prepared by the traditional two-party system to alter the results, and referred to thousands of tally sheets lacking biometric verification. According to her, these represented a significant percentage of the total and were approved without the security code guarantees of the counting system, which she argued amounted to a fraudulent manipulation of the popular will expressed at the ballot box.
Moncada and her party also publicly decried that the elimination of biometric verification on thousands of tally sheets on the eve of election day enabled vote inflation in favor of traditional parties—particularly the National Party and the Liberal Party—while Libre had far fewer tally sheets in that category. She announced that all legal avenues would be pursued during the final recount period to demand a review of those tally sheets and respect for the popular will.
In the post-election phase, the Libre Party refused to recognize the preliminary results, alleging US interference and coercion, and announcing public mobilizations, protests, and other actions to demand transparency and a clean count. Libre’s leadership declared that it would not participate in any governmental transition under the current conditions, describing the process as a possible “electoral coup in progress,” signaling an open rupture with decisions of the National Electoral Council.
At the same time, one CNE member, Marlon Ochoa, questioned the consistency of the data, denouncing the lack of public access to many physical tally sheets, technological irregularities, and the failure to process thousands of closing reports from polling stations, generating widespread debate over the transparency of the preliminary vote count (TREP) system and public confidence in the preliminary results.
The election was also marred by the explicit involvement of US President Donald Trump, who publicly expressed support for conservative candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura and issued warnings about potential repercussions for bilateral cooperation if the outcome was unfavorable to his chosen candidate. These statements were interpreted by Libre leaders and critical sectors as direct interference in Honduran electoral sovereignty.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/CB/SC
Cameron Baillie is an award-winning journalist, editor, and researcher. He won and was shortlisted for awards across Britain and Ireland. He is Editor-in-Chief of New Sociological Perspectives graduate journal and Commissioning Editor at The Student Intifada newsletter. He spent the first half of 2025 living, working, and writing in Ecuador. He does news translation and proofreading work with The Orinoco Tribune.
